ACCA AFM PROFESSIONAL MARKS

 There will be 20 professional skills marks out of 100 covering following professional skills:
o Communication
o Analysis and evaluation
o Scepticism
o Commercial Acumen
 Distribution:
o Section A:
 All four professional skills will be examined
 The 50 marks will comprise of 40 technical marks and 10 professional skills marks
o Section B:
 Each question will contain a minimum of two professional skills from:
 Analysis and evaluation
 Scepticism
 Commercial Acumen
 The 25 marks will comprise of 20 technical marks and 5 professional skills marks
 How Professional skills are assessed:
o Communication:
 The style of communication should always be determined by intended audience:
 Client
 Supplier
 Senior management
 The style includes:
 Tone
 Familiarity
 Level of detail included
 Use appropriate format
 Inform audience in clear and persuasive manner
 Section A will ask for a report. This report should have:
 Introduction
 Appropriate headings and sub-headings
 Calculations should be separated off into an appendix in the spreadsheet
response area
 Make use of spreadsheet functionality
 Conclusion
 Adherence to any specific instructions in the given scenario
 Points must be logical and progressive
 Avoid repetition

1|Pag e
 ACCA AFM PROFESSIONAL MARKS
o Analysis and evaluation:
 It is logical interpretation of information and then processing it systematically
 Evaluation should always follow any analysis that have been performed
 Identifying where data appears to be omitted or where further analysis is needed
to make a recommendation is also important
 Estimating future trends and making sensible forecasts of the implications of
decisions which the organisation is making
 Ask questions such as:
 What do the final calculations suggest?
 Are there any financial factors not included in the calculations which could
be relevant for decision making?
 Are there any significant non-financial factors that need to be considered?
 Marks are awarded for sensible analysis supported by relevant calculations
 Think of following areas while evaluating a proposal:
 What information is available in the scenario?
 Use numerical information provided to perform calculations to form the
basis of your analysis
 What information actually means and its impact on the organisation
 Cover both advantages and disadvantages
 Conclude or recommend
o Scepticism:
 Have a questioning approach
 To demonstrate effective scepticism, show a combination of:
 Probing
 Questioning
 Challenge within the subject matter
 Do the projections given seem realistic?
 Possibility of over-optimism in figures
 Don’t accuse about bias as this approach will lack professionalism
 Appropriate to recognise possibility of bias or self-interest
 Challenge view diplomatically rather than directly
 Also, don’t consider that everything provided in the question is incorrect
o Commercial acumen:
 Show awareness of both the internal and external environments which can affect
the organisation, including any constraints and opportunities
 Business awareness
 Consider validity and reasonableness of any assumptions made
 Consider the nature and size of the entity under consideration and whether the
suggestion being provided is appropriate for the business

2|Pag e